Plot 1 Literary Terms: Exposition, Complication, Incident, Inciting Moment
Exposition Definition: The beginning part of a play or story, in which the characters and their situations are introduced. The "beginning" of the plot.
Example: In Chronicle of a Death Foretold the main exposition was towards the beginning pages. The book started the morning Santiago gets killed, however we the readers to not know this. But it is right at the beginning where we meet Santiago, the main character, his mother and the cook/servants. Another example of an exposition is in The Awakening when again right at the beginning of the novel we meet Edna who is the dominator of the story. You will tend to find that there is a typical connection between relevant expositions in the novel and the early stages, because it is important for the story to draw it's reader in right from the start. Complication Definition: A series of difficulties forming the central action in a narrative. A complication in the plot is also something that affects the plot in any way. The complication can benefit the story or not. However the complication will still be relevant and have an affect on the plot.
Example: Society's expectations and attitudes towards women and Mr. Pontellier's controlling marriage are complications that hinder Edna's discovery of independence and freedom in Chopin's The Awakening. Edna's binding marriage restricts her from expressing herself freely and from pursuing her true passion, Robert Lebrun. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold there are plenty of examples of complications that form or possibly damage the central action and focus. When the Vicario twins are walking around town looking for Santiago to kill him, they run into a few difficulties such as running in with the police. They get their knives taken away, however they still find a way to regain two new ones. They also run the risk of Santiago protecting himself becuase the twins decided they were going to tell everyone about the killing and this could easily have backfired, but luckily for them, did not. Incident Definition: An event or episode in a work of fiction that moves the plot forward or reveals character.
Example: There are many examples of this in every novel. It is simply an event that takes place. A simple example could be taken from Chronicle of a Death Foretold when Santiago goes to see Maria at the "whore-house." This tells a lot about him and the culture that is accepted. He is engaged to another lady yet people seem to be ok with him going to a prostitute. Inciting Moment
Definition: The event that occurs as a first example of the conflict Example: An example of this from Chronicle of a Death Foretold is when Bayardo discovers that Angela is not a virgin, so he he takes her back to her parents and she gets beaten. Her brothers, the twins, then come and ask who is responsible for "everything" meaning taking the virginity and she mentions Santiago's name. It from this event when the search and hunt for Santiago begins.
Exposition
Definition: The beginning part of a play or story, in which the characters and their situations are introduced. The "beginning" of the plot.
Example: In Chronicle of a Death Foretold the main exposition was towards the beginning pages. The book started the morning Santiago gets killed, however we the readers to not know this. But it is right at the beginning where we meet Santiago, the main character, his mother and the cook/servants. Another example of an exposition is in The Awakening when again right at the beginning of the novel we meet Edna who is the dominator of the story. You will tend to find that there is a typical connection between relevant expositions in the novel and the early stages, because it is important for the story to draw it's reader in right from the start.
Complication
Definition: A series of difficulties forming the central action in a narrative. A complication in the plot is also something that affects the plot in any way. The complication can benefit the story or not. However the complication will still be relevant and have an affect on the plot.
Example: Society's expectations and attitudes towards women and Mr. Pontellier's controlling marriage are complications that hinder Edna's discovery of independence and freedom in Chopin's The Awakening. Edna's binding marriage restricts her from expressing herself freely and from pursuing her true passion, Robert Lebrun. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold there are plenty of examples of complications that form or possibly damage the central action and focus. When the Vicario twins are walking around town looking for Santiago to kill him, they run into a few difficulties such as running in with the police. They get their knives taken away, however they still find a way to regain two new ones. They also run the risk of Santiago protecting himself becuase the twins decided they were going to tell everyone about the killing and this could easily have backfired, but luckily for them, did not.
Incident
Definition: An event or episode in a work of fiction that moves the plot forward or reveals character.
Example: There are many examples of this in every novel. It is simply an event that takes place. A simple example could be taken from Chronicle of a Death Foretold when Santiago goes to see Maria at the "whore-house." This tells a lot about him and the culture that is accepted. He is engaged to another lady yet people seem to be ok with him going to a prostitute.
Inciting Moment
Definition: The event that occurs as a first example of the conflict
Example: An example of this from Chronicle of a Death Foretold is when Bayardo discovers that Angela is not a virgin, so he he takes her back to her parents and she gets beaten. Her brothers, the twins, then come and ask who is responsible for "everything" meaning taking the virginity and she mentions Santiago's name. It from this event when the search and hunt for Santiago begins.